


Jake Peralta: Master Negotiator

by JustSome99Fiction



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bank Robbery, Canon compliant-ish, F/M, Fluff, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:34:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24675451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustSome99Fiction/pseuds/JustSome99Fiction
Summary: The squad responds to a bank robbery but things escalate when they discover who two of the hostages are.
Relationships: Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago
Comments: 5
Kudos: 77





	Jake Peralta: Master Negotiator

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place a few years in the future and Mac might be on the autism spectrum.

In the years after Mac was born, Jake and Amy had been more intentional about the shifts they were scheduled to work. They work on weekdays and took weekends off in order to spend as much time with Mac as possible. Every now and then one or both of them will work a double shift or have overtime if they were working on a big case, but for the most part, they had gotten much better at having a good work life balance. It was also unlikely that either of them would take a day off during the week since that usually meant working an extra shift to make up for it later, but the night before, Karen had called them.

Jake answered his phone, “Hey, mom. How’s it going?”

“Well I was just calling to see if you had anyone that could watch Mac tomorrow. I’m not feeling very well.” Karen said.

“Umm.” Jake paused for a moment to think of who would be able to help out since Karen was their only regular babysitter, “Yeah, we can figure something out. Are you doing ok?”

“Oh, I’m fine. Just a little virus I’m sure. I just don’t want to get you all sick too. I would just hate it if Mac got sick because of me. I know how careful Amy is about cleaning everything to keep him healthy” 

“Okay. Don’t worry about it then. We will figure it out. Let me know if you need anything though, ok, mom?”

“Of course, dear. I love you, Jake.”

“Love you too, mom. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Alright. Bye-bye.” Karen said before hanging up

Mac would usually go to a half-day preschool in the morning and then Karen would pick him up and babysit until Jake and Amy got off work, but his school had the day off the next day and now Karen couldn’t help either. Jake leaned up against the kitchen counter for a minute, thinking about what he should do about finding someone to watch Mac the next day. He had been cleaning up after dinner while Amy got Mac ready for bed when his mom called, so once she hung up, he had to finish putting the dishes in the dishwasher and wiping down all the counter tops and the table, because as messy of an eater as he was, his crumbs were nothing compared to the mess Mac could make. Once he was done in the kitchen, he went to the living room to clean up a little in there. He still wasn’t the best at cleaning, but he had gotten in the habit of doing most of the housework in the few months before and after Mac was born because it was much easier for him to do it than Amy and it just became part of his normal routine. They were also still working on teaching Mac to pick up his toys and seeing Jake tidy up helped, since Mac tried to copy pretty much everything Jake did. He was folding the blankets and putting the couch cushions back in place since he and Mac had built a fort out of them earlier when Amy carried Mac into the living room.

“Time to say goodnight to daddy, Mac.” She said

Jake reached to take Mac from Amy so he could give him a goodnight cuddle.

Now that Mac was almost five, his own personality was really starting to come through. He wasn’t quiet as outgoing as Jake but was just as lighthearted and goofy. He had also inherited Jake’s curly hair, smile, and obsession with movies. Everything else he got from Amy. He was definitely on the quieter side and very particular about certain things like his clothes, food, and toys. He wouldn’t wear things if they were tight or had scratchy tags, he wouldn’t eat anything if it had a texture he didn’t like, and would get upset if someone moved his toys from where they belonged. He was even beginning to develop his own kind of Santiago panic scale when he got nervous or scared. One of Jake’s favorite things that Mac got from Amy though were his eyes. They were the same color and would get the same expressions when he was excited about something or when he was feeling particularly shy.

Jake sat down on the couch with Mac in his arms. His hair was still damp from his bath and it was getting Jake’s shoulder and neck a little wet, but he didn’t mind since right before bed was one of the few times Mac ever sat still long enough for a proper cuddle. Jake loved how much Mac was growing and becoming more independent and individual, but he did miss just being able to hold him and carry him around without him wiggling away.

“You ready for bed, pal?”

Mac shrugged his shoulders a little but didn’t say anything

“Well, I’m pretty sure its bedtime either way, so what do you need to do to be ready?”

“Mommy said to say goodnight to daddy”

Jake did his best to suppress a laugh before he responded “Ok, so do you want to say goodnight then?”

Mac nodded and said “Goodnight, daddy.”

“Goodnight, Mac. I love you so much.”

“I love you too” Mac said before pushing himself off Jake’s lap and walking over to Amy and saying “I said goodnight to daddy. I’m ready for bed now.”

Amy smiled at Jake before responding “Ok, baby. Let’s go get you tucked in then.” And then followed Mac to his room. 

Amy usually took care of bedtime because whenever Jake tried, he would let Mac pick as many books as he wanted and Mac would end up getting very excitable and silly and it would take four times as long for him to settle back down and then everyone would be tired the next day. Amy returned to the living room fifteen minutes later after reading one bedtime story and turning on some soft music for Mac to find that Jake had not moved from the couch.

“Hey” She said softly as she sat down next to him.

“Hi”

“Well I would say that was pretty successful. I love him, but sometimes that kid can be almost impossible to get to go to bed.”

“No kidding. The last time I put him to bed I accidentally let him pick a Tangled book and he insisted on telling me the whole plot of the movie before we read it even though we’ve seen it together about a hundred times” Jake said while laughing.

“That’s on you, babe.” Amy responded while reaching out to hold his hand, “We have watched Die Hard way more and you still tell me about it all the time.”

“Harsh but fair. Anyway, in other news, my mom called earlier. She’s not feeling well or something and can’t watch Mac tomorrow. I think I’m gonna have to take the day off.”

“Oh, is she ok?”

“Yeah, she said it’s a virus, but I bet its just from one of her weird new health trends that she heard about from a friend or something. Like the time she tried to convince me that you are supposed to drink the water you wash your vegetables in to get the nutrients.” Jake said while shaking his head.

“Wait, what?” Amy said with a very confused look.

“I don’t know. It doesn’t really matter anyway. I’m sure she’s fine and she said she’d call if she needed anything.”

They sat together quietly for a few minutes enjoying the first time all day that they weren’t either working or taking care of Mac before Jake sighed and said “I guess I better call Holt about rescheduling my shift tomorrow.”

“Why do you sound so disappointed? You usually love the opportunity to skip work to hang out with Mac.”

“I do, but I am getting so close to solving the case I’ve been working on. My warrant request just got approved, so I think I am about to find the last bit of evidence the DA needs to take it to court. Also Charles and I were planning on going to lunch tomorrow at a place that actually serves normal food instead of some kind of balls or intestines or whatever weird stuff the places he picks usually serve.”

“I could take the day off instead. I am ahead on all my paperwork and it’s been a while since I have had a day with just Mac.” Amy said.

“That would be great. I bet Mac is going to love having a day just the two of you. I know I love having you all to myself.” Jake said with a slight smirk on his face before leaning over to kiss her.

Amy scooted closer to him on the couch and brought the hand that wasn’t already holding his to the side of his face. She could feel him smile and used it to deepen the kiss a little. After another few seconds she shifted again and moved so she was straddling him and let go of his hand so she could bring her arm around his shoulders. His hands rested gently on her hips before he moved them up slightly so they could slide under her shirt before moving them around her to her back. They stayed like that for another minute or so before Amy pulled away a little bit. Jake smiled at her before saying “You know, its still early enough to have a little bit of fun before property brothers starts if you want to move this to the bedroom.” Amy just smiled and kissed him again before getting up and taking his hand to lead him to their room.

The next morning, as usual, they woke up to Mac opening their door and climbing into the armchair in the corner of their room with whichever toy he decided he wanted to play with that morning. He had gotten in the habit of sitting in that chair in the mornings because that’s where Amy used to nurse him and later where Jake would sit with him when he would wake up too early. Jake would pick him and whatever toy was nearest up, and sit down in the chair so Mac would play in his lap while Jake dozed off for another few minutes, so now, even though he’s old enough to quietly entertain himself, he still sits in the chair and plays until Jake and Amy get up. A few minutes later Amy got up and she and Mac went to the kitchen to get breakfast ready while Jake showered and got dressed. Fifteen minutes later when Jake came into the kitchen Amy said,

“I know you usually pack his lunch and backpack and get him dressed while I’m getting ready, but since I’ll be home today I can get him ready later if you two just want to play for a few minutes.”

Jake looked at Mac, who was nodding his head enthusiastically, so he said “Noice! What do you want to do, Mac?”

“Coloring!” Mac said happily

“Great idea!” Jake said as he followed Mac to the living room.

Mac went straight to one of his toy bins that had some paper and crayons in it and sat down on the floor to color. Jake sat down next to him and started absentmindedly coloring with the crayons and notebook Mac handed him while listening to Mac talk about the scene he was drawing. It didn’t look like much more than multicolored scribbles, but Jake loved it. After about ten minutes Mac got up, and since Jake thought he was going to grab another toy to play with, he set down his coloring stuff. But instead of getting a different toy, Mac brought his crayons and notebook and sat down in Jake’s lap before continuing to color. Jake loved moments like this because they weren’t something that happened super often and they couldn’t be forced, so he just sat and happily talked back and forth with Mac about his pictures until Amy came in a few minutes later. After she took a few pictures of them with her phone she told Mac it was time to get up and get ready because it was time for daddy to leave for work. Mac had clearly thought that Jake was also staying home with them because he looked up very surprised and said,

“But no work or school today.”

“Oh, bud, daddy does have work today. You and mommy are going to spend the day together.” Jake said quietly to him.

Mac responded, more insistently this time. “No! No work today.” Before starting to cry

Jake lifted Mac off his lap so he could turn him around to face him and gently said “Mac, buddy, daddy has to go to work today. You and mommy are going to spend the day together and then I’ll come home just like I do every day.” Jake and Amy weren’t used to Mac being this upset about either of them leaving so they were getting a little worried when Mac started covering his ears and crying, the first step on his Santiago panic scale. After Mac repeated “No work today” a few times Amy started to understand what was going on.

Mac, like Amy, loved routine and knowing the plan for things and when they didn’t follow the plan he was used to or expected would get really upset. So when they told him that Amy was not working that day he thought that it meant neither Jake nor Amy were working, and when he found out that Jake did have to work it changed what he thought was happening.

“Jake” she said, “Its not the fact that you have work today, he’s upset because he thought that you didn’t and now we are ‘changing’ the plan. You know how he gets when plans or routines change.”

“Ooh. That makes sense.” Jake said.

Jake had been kneeling on the floor in front of Mac who was still covering his ears and quietly crying. He reached out and brushed the hair out of Mac’s face before bringing him into a hug. He held Mac close to his chest for a minute before he stopped crying. Jake didn’t let go of him, but quietly said “Mac, I am going to work now, so be good for mommy today. I love you.” He felt Mac nod his head a little, so he let go of him and kissed his head before standing up and giving Amy a hug and kiss before leaving. 

Mac stood in the same spot for a few minutes without moving while Amy cleaned up the breakfast dishes before returning to the picture he was coloring.

“Are you ready to get ready for the day, baby?” Amy asked him from the kitchen.

He didn’t respond right away, so Amy walked into the living room to check on him. She knelt down next to him and gently stroked the back of his head until he looked up from his picture. She repeated “Its time to go get ready, ok?”

This time, Mac nodded before standing up and wrapping his arms around Amy so she would carry him. While getting him dressed and ready for the day she told him what they were going to do so that he would calm down a little bit more since he was still tense from that morning’s stress.

“So today I was thinking we would go to the library for the morning and then have lunch and play at the park before running a few errands. How does that sound?”

“I like that plan. Books are at the library!” Mac said happily. A love for books was another thing he and Amy had in common.

The next few hours went well. Amy and Mac spent all morning happily reading at the library and Jake was right about his case, so by the time lunch rolled around they had all but forgotten the events of that morning. At lunch Charles made Jake show him all the new pictures of Mac while they were eating, which included pictures that Amy had been sending throughout the day to reassure Jake that they were doing well. After seeing all the pictures, Charles insisted that they call to say hi because he was sure that Mac had grown and he couldn’t miss a chance to see him before he grows anymore, so Amy and Mac facetimed Jake and Charles before continuing on with their day.

About an hour later a call came in that there is a bank robbery in progress, and they need all available officers. Holt, Terry, Rosa, Charles, and Jake all grabbed their gear, got into their cars, and sped towards the bank. When they pulled up to the address, Jake got a sinking feeling in his stomach when he saw that the bank that was being robbed was where he and Amy banked. 

While they were walking through the parking lot towards the command vehicle, Jake said, “Man, they better not be stealing my money.” Under his breath

“That’s not really how that works, Jake. Your money is insured.” Terry responded

Before Jake could respond though, he saw something that made him stop dead in his tracks. Rosa, who was walking behind him, ran into him and almost knocked him over.

“What the hell, Peralta!” She yelled

He pointed at a car while whispering “Amy and Mac” before running towards the bank.

Rosa and Terry realized that the car he had pointed to was his and Amy’s, which meant that his family was inside the bank currently being held hostage. Terry barely managed to catch up to him and grab him before he got to the door. Jake wasn’t usually one for yelling, but he turned around and shouted,

“Let go of me! I need to be in there right now.”

“Jake, you know I can’t let you do that.”

“No! Terry, that’s my family in there! Let go!”

By that time, Captain Holt and Rosa had also run over to him and were trying to convince him to stop struggling against Terry.

“Jacob, you need to calm down. You are not to go into that building” Holt said.

“Jake, c’mon man. You know you can’t just run into something like this.”

“Rosa, you can’t say that you don’t want to go in there right now! Its Amy and Mac inside there.” Jake shouted.

“Of course I do, but running in blind could get them into more trouble. Its going to be fine. Thousand push-ups.” She said quietly but confidently.

Terry had been holding him from behind the whole time and was slowly loosening his grip as Jake stopped fighting him.  
Captain Holt said “Peralta, I am going to tell Jeffords to let go of you because I know that you are aware of the danger you would be putting everyone in if you ran into that bank, okay? I am trusting you to make the smart decision here.”

Jake gave a single quick nod of his head before Terry let go of him. Jake was shaking and his heart was pounding faster than he could ever remember before. He hadn’t noticed that everyone was looking at him until now, so he took as deep a breath as he was able before walking briskly towards the command vehicle demanding to talk to whoever was in charge of the negotiations. This had all happened only fifteen feet from the front door, so everyone inside had heard what was going on. Amy was holding Mac tightly silently begging that he wouldn’t say anything. She was also looking around to see if there were any other children inside. When the robbers came in they made everyone get on the ground while they chained the doors closed before telling them to all sit along the front wall, so from where she was sitting she couldn’t see all the other hostages. One of the robbers, the one she assumed was the leader, started pacing in front of the hostages. In a low voice he said

“So, someone in here is related to a cop.” 

He stopped in front of someone Amy couldn’t see and bent down a little and said, “Is it you?”

Amy assumed whoever it was only shook their head because she didn’t hear a reply before the robber stood back up and kept walking. A second later he was standing in front of her and Mac. The man knelt down and looked at Mac and said with a short cold laugh

“Well, don’t you look just like him. Is daddy a cop?”

Mac didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to. He did look a lot like Jake. The robber stood up and motioned to Amy with his gun and said 

“You two, come with me.”

Amy didn’t move immediately so the man yelled

“Now!”

It made everyone jump a little bit and there were a few worried sounds from some of the other hostages. Amy slowly stood up and held Mac impossibly close to her as she followed the robber to a separate smaller room. He pulled out a walkie talkie and said

“Put on the cop with the family in here”

After a few seconds Amy heard Jake’s voice over the radio.

“Detective Peralta here. What do you want?”

“Watch your tone there, officer, after all I do have your sweet little family here.” He said in a clearly taunting manner.

Jake was trying to keep calm because he knew how tense hostage negotiations were and that one wrong move could end with a lot of people getting hurt, but he was losing his temper. His voice came through almost like a growl when he said,

“Don’t you dare touch them. What do you want?”

Again in the tauntingly sweet voice the man answered, “Oh, I don’t want anything, but I have someone here who wants to talk to you.”

He held the radio out to her. “Jake” Amy said quietly

“Oh my god, Amy. Are you ok? Is Mac ok?” Jake knew that he shouldn’t make any personal conversation, but when he heard her he couldn’t help it.

Her voice came through clear when Amy responded “We are ok, Jake. So is everyone else. He said that he won’t hurt anyone as long as you follow his instructions.”

She heard Jake’s sigh of relief before he said quietly “Ok. But first, can Mac hear me right now?”

“He’s right here in my arms but he has his hands over his ears, so I don’t think so.”  
Then the robber cut back in, this time without the fake tone “Ok, enough of the touching reunion. I’m going to send someone out with my list of demands, but remember, if you all do anything you aren’t supposed to, your family is gonna be the first to pay for it.” Then he turned the radio off.

Jake yelled into the radio “Amy! Wait! Damnit!”

Just then a middle-aged woman appeared in the doorway of the bank with her hands up. She slowly walked out of the bank with the robber’s list of demands, so she was immediately escorted to the command vehicle where Jake was. Meanwhile inside the bank Mac was reaching the second level of his Santiago panic scale. Amy never liked seeing her son unhappy, but she was getting more and more concerned that he was going to have a full-on meltdown. His meltdowns were stressful under ideal circumstances but could prove to be very problematic in a high-pressure situation, like a bank robbery. Now in addition to covering his ears, he was rocking back and forth slightly and quietly whining. From what Amy could tell, the robbery was being done by a three person crew: the leader, one guy watching the hostages, and a woman breaking into the safes for the cash. By this point the guy in charge of guarding the hostages had started to notice Mac’s behavior and in a voice softer than Amy was expecting, he said to her 

“Can you calm him down at all?”

“This is what he does when he’s scared. He’s not going to calm down for anyone other than his dad. Trust me, I’ve tried.”

The guard just nodded and walked away. A few minutes later Amy heard him talking to the leader.

“Hey, boss, I gotta hit the bathroom real quick. Can you watch them for a minute?”

“Make it fast.”

The leader walked back over to Amy and said “Is that husband of yours good at following orders? I only ask because if he isn’t, you two are going to be in some real trouble.” He ended with a laugh.

“I’m sure he’s working as fast as he can. He’s not going to do anything that puts people in danger.”

Meanwhile the guy that was in charge of watching the hostages wasn’t actually in the bathroom. He had snuck into the other room to use the radio.

“Hello? I need to talk to the guy with the kid in here”

Jake didn’t recognize the voice, but he answered “Detective Peralta here.”

“I don’t have much time, so don’t interrupt me. I’m part of the crew robbing the bank, but I’m worried about the kid.” Jake was doing everything he could to not bust through the bank door after hearing that, but he let the guy continue “I’m only here to pay off my debt to the man you spoke to earlier. But I didn’t sign up for this or for putting any kids in danger. He’s fine right now, but it seems like he’s on the verge of a meltdown and I don’t think my boss would take that very well. Your wife said you were the only one that could calm him down.”

“Oh no, shit, yeah. Oh god. This is bad” Jake interrupted

“Shut up, man. Quit rambling. Is he on the autism spectrum by any chance?”

Jake was shocked by the question, but he answered “Uhh. I don’t know. I mean, he’s on a waiting list for an evaluation, but we think he might be. What is going on?” Jake could hardly think straight.

The guy answered “Look, my little brother is on the spectrum and your kid reminds me a lot of him. I can’t let anything happen to him. If I can get all the other hostages out can you get your team in here to take down my boss and keep me and my girlfriend out of jail?”

“I can’t promise anything, but I will do my best.”

“Ok. I have to go. Have your people ready.”

Then the radio went silent again. Jake was in shock. He never would have guessed that one of the members of the team would be offering to help take them down. Jake called Holt over and told him the plan. The guard returned and the boss went to check the progress the third member of their team was making. They had only been in there for about 45 minutes, but it felt like forever.

The guard whispered to Amy “Get him to take you to the other room to talk to your husband and I will get the other hostages out of here. Take as long as you can.”

Amy didn’t know whether to believe him or not, but she knew that there weren’t a lot of options for them at this point, so she nodded her head. A few minutes later the boss came back to check in on the hostages and Amy took a deep breath to summon all her courage and said

“I need to talk to Jake.” 

She held her breath as he turned to look at her. It felt like an eternity before he answered, “I don’t think you are in any position to be making demands like that.”

“I am aware, but its about my son. I need to talk to Jake.”

“And what makes you think that I care about you or your stupid kid?”

Amy flinched a little at him talking about Mac like that, but she said “I don’t expect you to, but I think you care about getting out of here. My son is obviously not doing well and the next level of his discomfort is going to get really loud and if Jake hears him, he will come storming in here, so if you want to be able to get out of here, just let me talk to Jake to convince him not to.”

The man paused for a second before turning around and motioning for Amy to follow him. Amy glanced at the guard who just nodded at her before she followed the leader into the room with the radio. He turned on the radio and stepped aside to let Amy near it.

“Jake” she said in a shaky voice “Jake, please be there.”

After a few seconds Jake’s voice came through, clearly out of breath “Hey, Ames, are you ok? What’s going on in there?”

The robber glared at her and shook his head. “I can’t tell you anything, but I need your help with Mac. He’s scared. I’m worried that if he starts crying you’re going to forget the robber’s demands and come rushing in here.”

All she heard was Jake’s shaky breathing for a few seconds. “Let me talk to him”

Both Jake and Amy knew that just hearing Jake’s voice over the radio was not going to stop the impending meltdown, but they were trying to buy time. “Ok” she said. “Just a second” She carefully pulled Mac’s hands away from his ears and Jake started talking quietly

“McClane, its daddy. Buddy, its going to be ok. I love you and I need you to be brave.”

All he could hear was Mac’s quiet, but consistent, whining.

“Mac, I’m going to come get you, ok?”

After he said that the boss yanked the radio away from Amy and said “You sure as hell are not if you want to see him alive ever again.”

Jake’s blood ran cold, but he responded “I will come in alone and unarmed. If I’m lying I’ll be the first one to take a bullet, but I’m coming in.”

“Fine, but I’m keeping your wife and the kid back here with me. My guy will let you in and show you where to go.”

Amy and Mac sat in the room alone with the leader of the bank robbery for the longest two minutes of their lives until Jake showed up at the door in just his t-shirt and jeans to prove he was unarmed. When he entered, the robber patted him down before letting him over to Amy and Mac. He immediately took Mac from Amy and winked before turning back to the robber and saying “See, I kept my end of the deal. Now can I have a second to calm my son down please?”

“Fine. You have one minute, then either you leave or I shoot you.” He said with a cruel smile.

Jake immediately set Mac down and turned he light in the small room off. He knelt down in front of Mac, who was still rocking back and forth a bit with his hands over his ears, and wrapped his arms tightly around him and started gently humming the songs from Tangled. A few seconds later they heard a bunch of officers in the other room ordering the three robbers to put their weapons on the ground and put their hands up, and just like that, the robbery was over, but Jake’s attention had not left Mac. After a few more minutes of gently humming he was calming down for the first time since the robbery had started. It only lasted an hour, but that was still way too long. Jake felt Mac leaning into him heavier than before and felt his hands leave his ears.

“He’s asleep isn’t he?”

Amy smiled a little and nodded, so Jake gently lifted Mac fully into his arms and stood up to leave. Amy put her hand on his arm to stop him.

“Jake, what happened? How did you get the other guy to help you?”

“I’ll tell you later. I just need to go home and be with my family right now, okay?”

“Okay, yeah.” She said with a soft smile and nod.

When the three of them walked out of the bank finally the squad rushed over to check on them. Amy assured them that they were alright, but needed to go home and that she would call them later. They all agreed that it was probably for the best to get Mac home as soon as possible and they could debrief later. Once they got home Amy carried Mac to his room. It was still pretty early, but he was emotionally exhausted after such a stressful afternoon so they agreed to let him sleep as long as he needed and they would deal with it if he woke up during the night and needed them. After Mac was safe in his bed, Amy went straight to Jake and let him wrap his arms around her like he had done with Mac earlier. Jake was her safe space and she was his. They stood in their living room hugging for a few minutes before either of them said anything.

“I was so worried” Jake said quietly “I know how strong you are and that you can take care of yourself and all, but I thought I was going to lose you, and I can’t lose you”

“Me too, babe. I was scared, but I knew you were out there and you weren’t going to let anything happen.”

“Never. I’m never going to let anything happen to you two. Also, I’m never letting you go to the bank without me again.” He said with a laugh

He let go of her and let his hands run down her arms to hold her hands and he rested his forehead against hers.

“Deal” she said with a smile and a short kiss.

They stood like that for a few seconds before Jake said, “If you want to go shower and change into some comfy clothes, I’ll order Polish food and hot chocolate.”

“That sounds perfect. Thank you. I love you.”

“I love you, Ames.”


End file.
